This Weekend in Baseball History - Holiday Weekend Edition
May 28th, 2004: Mariano Rivera earns his 300th career save as the Yankees beat the Devil Rays 7-5 at Tropicana Field. The future Hall of Famer is the 17th pitcher to reach that milestone.
May 28th, 1996: Cal Ripken belts three home runs and drives in as the Orioles outscore the Mariners 12-8 at the Kingdome.
May 28th, 1989: Mike Schmidt commits an error on a ground ball which leads to a rally capped by Will Clark's grand slam. He walks against the Giants Mike LaCoss in his final at-bat, and, frustrated by his declining play, announces his retirement from baseball the following day.
May 28th, 1979: George Brett hits for the cycle and smacks the game winner in the Royals victory over the Orioles. The future Hall of Famer's second home run of the game comes in the bottom of the 16th and gives KC a 5-4 walk-off win.
May 28th, 1969: Jerry Koosman sets a Mets franchise record with 15 strikeouts, but leaves with a no decision. Bud Harrelson drives in Cleon Jones with an 11th-inning single for the game's only run, as the Mets edge the Padres 1-0 at Shea Stadium. That 11 becomes a lucky number -- it's the first of the club's record 11-game winning streak.
May 28th, 1956: Dale Long of the Pirates is the first player ever to hit home runs in eight consecutive games. The history making shot comes off Carl Erskine of the Dodgers in the Pirates 3-2 Forbes Field victory.
May 28th, 1946: In the first night game at Yankee Stadium, 49, 917 are on hand to see a 2-1 loss to the Washington Senators. GE president Charles Wilson throws out the ceremonial first pitch. Dutch Leonard throws a complete game six-hitter and drives in the deciding run for Washington in the 4th. The Yankees only score came on Joe DiMaggio's 1st inning RBI, which drove in Snuffy Stirnweiss.
Halladay joined Jim Bunning as the only Phillies ever to throw a perfect game; ironically both occurred in their first seasons with the club -- after being traded by an American League team.
May 29th, 2000: Ex-Yankee Randy Velarde, now with Oakland, completes the tenth unassisted triple play in major league history -- and does it against his former club. Even tacking on a 9th inning solo homer, it's not enough to overcome the Yankees, who win the game 4-1.
May 29th, 1996: Cal Ripken homers off Sterling Hitchcock of the Mariners and passes Eddie Murray to become the Orioles all time home run leader,with 334. But Seattle rallies for two in the ninth on a Ken Griffey solo homer and Russ Davis RBI single, to slip past Baltimore 9-8.
May 29th, 1995: Derek Jeter makes his major league debut. The former 1st round draft choice bats ninth in Buck Showalter's order and goes 0 for 5 in the Yankee 8-7, 12-inning loss to the Mariners at the Kingdome in Seattle. Rich Amaral is the Seattle hero, with a walk off homer facing Scott Bankhead.
May 29th, 1991: Dale Murphy's 2000th career hit is a 5th inning leadoff double in the Phillies 2-1 Veterans Stadium win over the Expos.
May 29th, 1990: The Mets, off to a 20-22 start, fire manager Davey Johnson, who'd averaged 96 wins in his first six seasons -- including the 1986 World Championship -- blaming a lack of team discipline.
May 29th, 1977: Chris Chambliss homers and steals home in the 8th inning in the Yankees 5-2 win over the White Sox.
May 29th, 1971: Nolan Ryan pitches his greatest game as a Met. He strikes out 16 in a complete game 2-1 victory over the Padres in San Diego.
May 29th, 1965: Dick Allen crushes a 529 foot home run at Connie Mack Stadium. The blast, off Larry Jackson, proves to be the difference in the Phillies 4-2 win over the Cubs.
May 30th, 1995: Derek Jeter gets the first two hits of his career: his first is a 5th inning single to left field off Tim Belcher, in the Yankees 7 -3 loss to the Mariners at the Kingdome.
May 30th, 1993: The Phillies wrap up a weekend sweep in Colorado with an 18-1 victory. Winning pitcher Tommy Greene hits one of six Philadelphia homers as he raises his season's record to 7-0. The eventual NL champs leave Mile High Stadium with baseball's best record at 34-14.
May 30th, 1982: Cal Ripken's ironman streak begins, as he starts at 3rd base for the Orioles against the Blue Jays. The future Hall of Famer goes on to play in 2632 consecutive games.
May 30th, 1962: Gil Hodges' only two-homer game as a Met comes at the Polo Grounds against his former club, the Dodgers. The day ends in disappointment for Casey Stengel's crew as LA scores a run in the top of the 9th off reliever Craig Anderson for a 6-5 victory.
May 30th, 1961: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Moose Skowron each hit two home runs (and Yogi Berra adds another) as the Yankee crush the Red Sox 12-3 at Fenway Park. After starting pitcher Ralph Terry was hit hard over the first 3 innings, Bill Stafford earned the victory with four scoreless innings of relief.
May 30th, 1956: Mickey Mantle becomes the first player ever to reach 20 Home Runs by the end of May, when he crushes a mammoth blast off Yankee Stadium's upper deck facade in the nightcap of a Memorial Day doubleheader against the Washington Senators. It's estimated the ball missed leaving the stadium entirely by just 18 inches. Mantle's victim is future teammate Pedro Ramos, as the Yankees win 12-5 to cap a holiday sweep.
May 30th, 1937: Carl Hubbell's record 24-game winning streak ends with the Giants' 10-3 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hubbell's previous defeat came on July 13th, 1936, when the Cubs blanked New York 1-0.
May 30th, 1935: Babe Ruth plays his final game. Batting third for the Boston Braves against the Phillies at Baker Bowl, he grounds out (off Phils right Jim Bivin) in the top of the 1st. In the bottom of the inning the Babe committs an error misplaying a fly ball to left field by Lou Chiozza; once the side was retired, instead of heading for the dugout, Ruth ran off for the center field club house, receiving a huge ovation, his playing career over. Before a crowd of 18,000, the Phillies won the game, the opener of a holiday doubleheader, 11-6.
May 30th, 1922: Between the morning and afternoon games of a holiday doubleheader, the Cubs and Cardinals pull of a trade. Chicago's Max Flack goes to St. Louis for Cliff Heathcote. They share an odd moment in history playing each game of the doubleheader for a different team.
May 31st, 1992: Gary Carter becomes the first National Leaguer to catch 2000 games in the Expos 6-2 win over the Reds in Cincinnati.
May 31st, 1980: Steve Carlton wraps up a perfect month, tossing a 7-0 shutout over the Cubs, as Mike Schmidt homers twice at Wrigley Field.
May 31st, 1975: Catfish Hunter throws a one-hit shutout as the Yankees blank the Rangers 6-0 at Arlington Stadium. Cesar Tovar gets the only Texas hit, a 6th inning single.
May 31st, 1964: The Mets, after dropping the opener of a Sunday doubleheader to the Giants, 5-3, play a marathon in the nightcap. Del Crandall and Jesus Alou break the tie with run scoring hits in the top of the 23rd inning for an 8-6 San Francisco win -- that ended at 11:25pm. The game is tipped to the entire nation as What's My Line panelist (and avid baseball fan) Bennett Cerf mentions it during a live broadcast of the popular game show.
May 31st, 1961: Carroll Hardy, bats for Carl Yastrzemski in the 8th inning and reaches on a single in the 8th inning of the Red Sox 7-6 loss to the Yankees. The outfielder becomes the only player ever to pinch-hit for both Yaz and Ted Williams.
May 31st, 1958: Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Wes Covington homer on consecutive pitches off the Pirates' Ron Kline in the Braves 8-3 victory over Pittsburgh.
May 31st, 1948: Schenectady lefthander Tom Lasorda strikes out 25 batters in a 15-inning complete game victory over Amsterdam in the Canadian-American League. Lasorda gave up 5 runs, 10 hits, 12 walks and hit a batter -- with a pitch count estimated at just under 300!! He also drove in the winning run with a walk-off single.
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